Amazon will continue to send customers to unemployment offices across the country as it plans to lay off another 9,000 workers, bringing the total number of layoffs to 27,000 since the beginning of the year.
Back in January, the delivery company set a personal record by laying off 18,000 people at once. The dark milestone hit Amazon’s grocery sector especially hard, as many of the pink slips were issued to those associated with Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh. The job cuts would be the second largest in Amazon’s history.
On March 20, CEO Andy Jassy informed the workforce via memo, stating that the move was a result of the company’s second phase of an annual planning process.
Staffing at Amazon more than doubled during the pandemic as more people ordered online while quarantined, but the US tech sector has been cutting back in recent months. Amazon announced in early March that it was halting construction on a new headquarters building in northern Virginia. Construction of warehouses is also slowing.
Amazon also announced the permanent closure of eight Amazon Go convenience stores, including two in Seattle.
This was part of the Seattle-based tech giant’s attempt to reduce its physical retail operations. Amazon announced in February that it would pause the rollout of its Amazon Fresh retail stores while it re-evaluated the concept’s economics.
Jassy also stated that he expected the ecommerce behemoth to develop a viable retail grocery format in 2023.
